Poor mental health is also putting kids at risk, with the study saying a quarter of people between two and 17 years old experience mental-health challenges.

The UN committee says urgent action is needed on discrimination, independent monitoring, abuse and neglect, and standards of living when it comes to Indigenous children.

A pair of newly released reports collectively argue Canada was failing to provide healthy, safe childhoods prior to the coronavirus pandemic, setting kids up to be hit particularly hard by the global outbreak.